1,721,273 research outputs found
Research in action to push the boundaries of scientific research and technological development
No full textLying in the space of human curiosity, this issue of CIJ experiments with the boundaries of scientific exploration to foster technological development. To cultivate experimental innovation, it is imperative to translate research into tangible action, explore multifaceted problems, offer support for implementation, and effectuate meaningful changes
Expanding the Frontiers of Innovation
No full textThe papers in this issue offer novel insights and tools to recraft and extend innovation beyond its traditional domains to focus on complex global challenges, driving innovation frontiers toward transformative and impactful outcomes. In an era where economic growth, societal progress and social equity are focal for policy makers, this issue explores the power of structure and experimentation to surface the complexities of university and industry collaboration
New Research Methodologies in Innovation: A Shift Toward Experimentation
Full text linkAs familiar with our informed readership, CIJ supports unconventional, early-stage, thought-provoking experimental research. We aim to foster innovation methodologies, tools, educational approaches, and experiments to push the boundaries of creativity to drive societal innovation. This is the first statement of our novel Manifesto, which embodies a spirit of open, multidisciplinary exploration, embracing unconventional ideas and research that challenges norms to drive innovation and societal progress.
With this issue, we are inaugurating a special section dedicated to methodological papers aimed at inspiring innovation researchers to explore and embrace diverse applied methodologies in their research. Every issue will have a short note from a relevant expert in the field; this will be on Design Science
CoViD-19, One Health, One Ocean, and Veterinarians
Full text linkThe “official” number of SARS-CoV-2 infection cases worldwide have now exceeded 10 millions, with the “official” CoViD-19-induced/related/associated deaths having overtaken 500,000 cases globally. We know these numbers are “defective”, where less where more, in “depicting” the real epidemiological situation concerning the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with an esteemed 3-5% of the world population having been hitherto exposed to the virus, the seventh human coronavirus and the third highly pathogenic human beta-coronavirus recognized thus far, following the SARS-CoV and the MERS-CoV agents, which were first identified in 2003 and 2012, respectively. Similarly to SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, SARS-CoV-2 most likely originated through a natural selection process involving an “ancestral” and closely (96%) related bat (Rinolophus affinis) coronavirus, that was probably transferred to an “intermediate” (and still unidentified) species, from which the virus made the “definitive” spillover to mankind, thereby acquiring the best genetic “make-up” for perfectly interacting with ACE-2 - its main receptor on human host cells -, thereby giving rise to the dramatic CoViD-19 pandemic the entire world has been and is still experiencing. This clearly underscores the key role of the inter-sectorial collaboration between human and veterinary medicine, with special emphasis on the "One Health” (and “One Ocean”) concept(s), a strategic "crossroads" in which human, animal, and environmental health meet. Veterinarians, who have known coronaviruses for over 100 years (as exemplified by the gamma-coronavirus responsible for “avian infectious bronchitis”), "were born from infectious diseases”, as significantly highlighted by the first Veterinary Medical Schools to be established in Europe, namely those of Lyon (France, 1761), Turin (1769), and Bologna (1784), the latter two in Italy. The main “historical reason” justifying the birth of these first Veterinary Faculties during has been identified in “Rinderpest”, a highly contagious morbilliviral disease which during the 18th century dramatically affected cattle herds in the “Old Continent” and which, thanks to the large-scale vaccination programmes implemented in Africa and Asia, was successfully eradicated in 2011 (the second global “plague” to be eradicated on earth after “smallpox”).
There are several fields where Veterinary Medicine can play (and has historically played) a crucial role in human, animal, and environmental health protection.
1) Clinico-pathological investigations’ field: Clear-cut evidence has been obtained regarding the susceptibility to natural and experimental SARS-CoV-2 infection of some domestic and wild animal species, including cats, ferrets, hamsters, lions, tigers, and minks, with such findings being counterparted by the apparent lack of susceptibility of avian species like chickens and ducks. particularly the feline one, and some wild species such as ferret, hamster, mink, tiger and lion, are sensitive to the virus. Although there is no scientific evidence, at the moment, of a viral “spillback” to humans from any of the aforementiones species (an exception to which might be represented by minks in the Netherlands), the role played by Veterinarians in monitoring and tracing such phenomena and the eco-epidemiological dynamics underlying them is pivotal, including that played by Veterinary Pathologists in investigating both the aforementioned and other experimentally SARS-CoV-2-challenged species as “comparative pathology models” for the study of human infection, similarly to what previously done with the SARS and the MERS coronaviruses.
2) Animals as key “environmental health biomonitors”: As brilliantly highlighted by Pope Francesco, “How can we imagine to stay healthy in a sick world?”, where over 9 billions people are supposed to live by the year 2050, and where - still in 2050 - more plastics than fish could be present in oceans and seas all over the planet, with the mean global temperatures having continuously increased during the past 6 years?
In this respect, the crucial relevance of animals - with special emphasis on “top predators” - as strategic “biomonitors” for detecting terrestrial, aquatic, and air pollution by a wide range of environmental contaminants should be adequately underscored.
3) Public health field: This is an investigation area of paramount importance for the surveillance and control of zoonotic infectious diseases, both viral (like CoViD-19) and non-viral, with Veterinarians - especially infectious disease Specialists and Pathologists - having an excellent knowledge about the management of viral and non-viral epidemics and pandemics like Rinderpest, Foot-and-Mouth Disease, Hog Cholera, African Swine Fever, and Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), just to cite a few. Alongside animal health surveillance and human health protection from zoonotic infections -accounting for over 70% of “emerging infectious diseases” -, an “historical” activity routinely carried out by Veterinarians concerns the “big and continuously size-increasing arena” of the safety and security of foods for human and animal consumption, including the assessment, analysis, and minimization of foodborne zoonotic and chemical risks.
As Veterinarians, we believe that more time and energies should be spent by us in making the general public aware about the key role played by our Profession for public, animal, and environmental health protection, provided that many people in our Country (and in many others, we think) know “just very little” of what Veterinarians do “in their life”.
In conclusion, SARS, MERS, zoonotic avian influenza, and the 2009 pandemic AH1N1 influenza viruses, along with “mad cow disease” (over 30 years ago) and, nowadays, CoViD-19 have taught and are teaching us “lessons” we should never forget, among which the “intersectorial collaboration” and the “multidisciplinary work” (within the “One Health” and “One Ocean” concepts’ framework), along with the “principle of precaution” (that was strongly applied to BSE management and which has also been the leimotif for handling the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic), should be regarded as tools, instruments, and approaches of paramount importance for gaining proper insight into these zoonotic pathogens as well as for minimizing the spread of the scary infections caused by them
Design thinking mindset: scale development and validation
Full text linkABSTRACT
Expectations from Higher Education institutions are increasing towards the education of professionals able to face complex societal issues. In this context, traditional thinking is losing ground, and scholars agree on the importance of promoting a Design Thinking (DT) Mindset in educational settings to address wicked problems. However, an explanation of and measurement for the DT mindset still needs to be adequately developed. We developed and validated a scale to measure DT mindset to fill this gap. After a comprehensive literature review, quantitative research was performed on two samples of professionals (N = 151) and students (N = 201). We employed confirmatory factor analysis, which yielded a 31-item scale based on ten dimensions. Overall, this study supports the conceptualization and operationalization of the DT mindset as a second-order factor that reflects uncertainty and risk, empathy, holistic thinking, collaboration and diversity, learning orientation, experimentation, critical questioning, abduction, creative confidence, and impact. Our findings advance knowledge that facilitates new research paths and has practical implications for educational and management fields
The Hybrid Model MatrixEnhancing Stage-Gate with Design Thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile Managers can use the Hybrid Model Matrix to decide when to use design thinking, Lean Startup, or Agile with Stage-Gate to boost new product development
Full text linkOverview: The Hybrid Model Matrix supports managers’ decision-making regarding which new product development (NPD) processes to activate for a specific project. Stage-Gate is the backbone process of the matrix, and design thinking, Lean Startup, and Agile are plugged in to create three different hybrid models. The matrix also provides guidance regarding when R&D managers might use each model. The Hybrid Model Matrix outlines four approaches––linear Stage-Gate and the three hybrid models—that R&D managers may activate selectively based on company knowledge of users and categories. R&D managers can use the Hybrid Model Matrix to guide NPD projects better since they can determine the most suitable model given each opportunity’s specific context
Strategic Alignment Matrix: supporting management coordination in complex organizations
No full textPurpose The paper proposes a framework, labeled Strategic Alignment Matrix, to attain organizational alignment by integrating the horizontal dimension of performance (results driven by activities carried out by multiple organizational units) and the vertical dimension (results of single units) through the use of a sophisticated information structure composed of quantitative measures and management processes. Design/methodology/approach A science-based design approach was adopted. A review of the literature on Strategic Performance Management Systems (SPMS) and coordination allowed the identification of a set of design principles (guidelines reflecting the accumulated knowledge in the literature). The design principles guided the design of the proposed framework. The framework was tested in a tiles company on the new product development process. Findings Five design principles are presented for the design of a working SPMS: (1) to integrate the horizontal and vertical dimensions of performance; (2) to have all the relevant information in one place (package); (3) to understand how actors contribute to the overall performance; (4) to favor the emergence of integrating conditions for coordination; (5) to enrich the role of quantitative non-financial information to attain inter-functional integration. During the test of the framework, managers highlighted their increased ability to coordinate actions and the existence of a double-loop learning. Research limitations/implications The model was tested in one organization. The study should be replicated in other contexts connecting the Strategic Alignment Matrix to the budgeting and incentives systems. Originality/value Working at the interface between science and design helps to address the theory-practice gap that has been a priority in management studies for a long time
Optimization of a Light Aircraft Spark-Ignition Engine
No full textThe aim of this study was to find a convenient set-up for an innovative engine dedicated to light aircraft through a numerical one-dimensional simulation. Six different engine layouts were analyzed in order to find the highest power/weight ratio and the least voluminous configuration. The first was a four cylinder, four stroke, horizontally opposed, naturally aspirated, water cooled engine with 16 valves that delivered 75 kW (~100 bhp) at 2400 rpm for an estimated weight of 65 kg. A gearbox was also used in the naturally aspirated model to decrease the displacement, the weight and the overall dimensions. The other solutions involved these two engines in a turbocharged layout in order to gain a further downsizing. The supercharging was obtained through a centrifugal compressor driven by an exhaust gas driven turbine, which also allows the power to be restored at cruising altitude. The other engines were two stroke turbocharged engines (compressor driven by gas turbine) with and without a gearbox. The most important innovations of the two-stroke engines concern the turbocharge group, an unidirectional-flow scavenging scheme with four all-acting exhaust valves, a forced-fed lubricating system and a direct fuel injection in order to reduce fuel consumption and pollution. The results have shown that the four and the two-stroke turbocharged engines are the most promising as far as the power/weight ratio and dimension reduction are concerned
Including Career Education in University Courses: The Instructor Perspective
No full textThis study explores the integration of career education into university courses from the instructor's perspective, addressing the need for effective methods to enhance students' career readiness. Interviews with professors, course coordinators, and career office managers from multiple European universities revealed significant variations in the instructors' willingness and ability to provide career education, influenced by their business experience and perceived ownership of the guidance role. The study identifies four distinct instructor profiles and offers tailored recommendations to support each one. Additionally, it outlines key design principles for creating activities that enable instructors to incorporate career education into their teaching practices seamlessly
Spinal subarachnoid cyst in a cat
No full textA 7-year-old neutered female domestic short hair cat was presented with hind limb ataxia. A sub arachnoid cyst in the T10-T11 spinal cord region was identified by myelography as a collection of contrast medium in the subarachnoid space
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